Yeah. I do notice a blind spot where the display is (It's not an actual HUD, since you have to glance down to see the display) but worse than that I'm losing a pretty hefty chunk of my usual field of vision (I'd guess between 10 and 20 degrees to my left and right.) That's enough of a problem that I may not ever actually jump with them. It might be possible to fit the display into some skydiver goggles though, and wouldn't be entirely surprised if an option became available.

I'm still happy to support a first generation device but I'd need to see some pretty big improvements to consider buying a second or third generation of it. Assuming they got enough of a response to develop a second or third generation of it.

I'm losing a pretty hefty chunk of my usual field of vision (I'd guess between 10 and 20 degrees to my left and right.) That's enough of a problem that I may not ever actually jump with them.

Keep in mind that there's another factor to consider, that being the distraction of the display itself. If you're looking at the display, let's say under canopy, and someone is coming at your from your new 'blind spot', you'll never see them until they hit you.

Let's not forget the other aspect, that being the disctraction from everything else considering your jump. Similar to a camera, it adds another piece of gear to your gear checks and another thing on your mind besides making a safe skydive.

I can see the benefit to an experienced wingsuiter looking to maximize their flight performance, but outside of that, I'm not sure it would win the risk/benefit analysis for a 'regular' jump, or even for a wingsuiter without a lot of wingsuit jumps.

That's not as bad but there's still some loss there. I always have to look down to see my handles anyway.

They're definitely not going to replace my everyday goggles. I might potentially see using them on a slow day when the Cessna's flying and there are only 4 or 5 other people in the air. They don't seem like the sort of thing that you'd want to wear on any group jump.

Their software is pretty nifty though, and will let you plot your runs out on a map and stuff. They could potentially market that for android phones if it were able to operate with any GPS receiver.

Ok it's all charged up and I'm learning a bit more about it. It can track your jumps with GPS and print it out on a map either on their web site or presumably through their mobile app (I haven't checked out the mobile app yet.) A fellow over in the wingsuit forum has already worked out their file format, so it'd be easy enough to suck it in and barf out a KML file suitable for Google Earth.

It arrived showing an altitude for here that was a bit low. Looks like you can adjust the altitude up or down with the remote that comes with the device. Three feet or 1 meter at a time. It also sounds like the device resets the altitude if left alone for a few hours. Hopefully they sort that out quickly, since adjusting the altitude from a mile above sea level every time I want to go jumping with it would be a massive pain in the ass.

There's no other way to manipulate the device (Unless the mobile app will) other than the remote that comes with it. I suspect that if you take the remote with you on a jump, the big buttons on it will be far too easy to press in mid-flight, too. I don't know if they have an interface lock-in like my Neptune does, but I'd actually be kind of surprised if they do. Some smarts of the sort that goes into the Neptune and an actual way to zero out the altitude (Or a Neptune-style method that detects when you take off in the plane) are key features I'd want to consider the device even remotely usable for skydiving. These could be easily added with firmware updates, though.

The screen updates once per second, so even if the GPS is super-accurate you could be a couple hundred feet from where you think you are. This also makes the interface with the remote feel a bit sluggish at times. I don't know if they can mess with the refresh rate. If they can set it, I'd set the refresh rate down to 200 milliseconds within a second of when the remote was last used and when the device detects you're travelling at over 100mph. That would keep power drain low when you're on the ground but give you better interface responsiveness when you need it. For the portions of your jump where you're falling at less than a diagonal speed of 100 mph, slower updates would probably be reasonably not-dangerous. Making the threshold speed adjustable in the settings would solve the problem if you think it is.

The Uvex goggles themselves are big and bulky and cut way too much out of my field of vision. I'm actually a bit surprised anyone would even ski with these things. The electronics of the HUD could easily be removed from the goggle and moved to a better enclosure, though. Perhaps you could 3D print a custom pair of goggles that house most of the device outside your field of vision. Something like that with replaceable lenses would be pretty spiffy. If you had a full-faced helmet, you might be able to figure out how to mount it so it doesn't overly obstruct your vision, too.

The package as shipped, though, personally I would not jump with. At least not until they work out some details of their software. Eliminating the need for the remote and making sure the HUD portion of the setup behaves in a non-nonsense manner while in flight would go a long way toward alleviating my concerns.

I'll run it by the instructors and more experienced skydivers next time I'm at my dropzone. It ought to make for some interesting discussion. I might also ping the Recon guys and ask about writing software for it. If it's feasible with a standard Android SDK, I could possibly just write my own damn interface to it.

I and some fellow jumpers/nerds who are into ham radio have put together gear that posts inflight jump data to the Internet in real time using the APRS packet radio system. We broadcast GPS altitude position course and ground speed. We also post heart rate and blood oxygen % (SpO2). If you click on the red dots you'll see data. Only some of the dots have heart info so try a few.

We will be tweaking and repackaging the Recon HUD gear. Hope to be able to integrate it into a full face helmet.

We've also had success in live air to ground video using ham radio microwave frequencies.

We also built and test flew HF data beacon gear capable of reaching hams many thousands of miles away. Still tweaking this gear. It uses a trailing wire end fed dipole antenna deployed after opening and jettisoned before landing.

Is this stuff practical? We don't really care. We just like making and operating it.

Hi, I just got mine and was surprised that there was no doc in the box - just the Uvex Goggles warranty and a nicely printed card from Recon - no instructions, no description - nothing. Anyhow, I managed to work out how to charge it, how to switch it on - but then I hit a snag: The remote won't connect to the HUD. The HUD says press any button to connect, so I do, but it doesn't seem to want to connect. Am I doing something wrong? Have I missed a step? Help! Greg

Hi, I just got mine and was surprised that there was no doc in the box - just the Uvex Goggles warranty and a nicely printed card from Recon - no instructions, no description - nothing. Anyhow, I managed to work out how to charge it, how to switch it on - but then I hit a snag: The remote won't connect to the HUD. The HUD says press any button to connect, so I do, but it doesn't seem to want to connect. Am I doing something wrong? Have I missed a step? Help! Greg

There's a tiny button on the remote that I believe is the power switch. At least, mine turned on after I pressed it.

Hi, Thanks for your help. Unfortunately, that's not the problem. The remote is working (blue flashing light, etc), but still nothing from the HUD except the satellite dish icon with 'transmit' lines emanating from it . . . .

If you had a full-faced helmet, you might be able to figure out how to mount it so it doesn't overly obstruct your vision, too.

A guy at the tunnel last night had a pair of these and I tried them on. Kinda neat but the goggles are awful. I don't know that I would be able to see handles easily unless I was looking straight at them. Plus I am dubious that they would do well at FF wind speed.

However, and this is only anecdotal, the guy told me that he heard of someone mounting it inside their G3 so rumor on the street is someone has figured this out.

Or it is just a rumor. Either way, I think it's an expensive toy that would only be marginally useful for a wingsuit pilot who wants immediate feedback on glide ratio or something. I'm not seeing a strong use case for vertical jumps.

There were two guys jumping in NJ this weekend with the Recon goggles/HUD and one was able to get them on while wearing his G3. If I remember correctly, he basically held the goggles in the visor opening and the strap inside the helmet as he put on both at the same time. Once he got everything on he was able to close the visor.